5/13/2002 @ 12:01AM

VW Buffs Up

That’s the question everyone’s been asking
Volkswagen
as it launches its first upscale car ever, the Passat W8 (not a V-8 by the way, this car has a W-shaped engine that we’ll describe below). It went on sale the last week of April.

VW doesn’t intend to sell very many eight-cylinder Passats, only 5,000 per year in the U.S. But it does intend to sell them for far less than any other eight-cylinder German sedan in America, at $37,900. The next closest eight-cylinder German sedan? The A6 4.2 from
Audi
, which goes for $50,225.

Hmm. VW owns Audi, right? Yep. And, in fact, for years Audi has been billed around the globe as VW’s upmarket division, the maker of the company’s faster, swankier vehicles.

But now, with the introduction of this Passat, you can get a 270-hp German sports sedan for almost exactly the same price as the slower, 220-hp V-6-powered A6 Audi (0 to 60 mph for the A6 3.0 is 7.4 seconds, versus 6.5 seconds for the Passat W8). Oh, but that A6 has quattro all-wheel drive and the Passat doesn’t, does it? Actually, it does, or a close imitation called 4Motion that works almost exactly the same way.

Well, okay, but the A6 is bigger inside, right? Bingo. You get about five more cubic feet of interior space in the Audi. And we also think the A6′s interior is a bit sweeter. But still, how will you feel in your slightly more spacious, slightly swankier Audi as a once-lowly VW blows your more expensive V-6′s doors off?

Well, according to VW, you won’t care. Volkswagen of America’s director of marketing, Karen Marderosian, says that currently Audis and VWs are only cross-shopped (buyers looking at both brands) at a rate of 4%, meaning that the A6 buyer wouldn’t even think about getting a Passat instead of the Audi but, rather, may consider a
BMW
.

Still, VW plainly says the reason for the W8 is that because would-be Passat buyers couldn’t get as much power as they wanted in a VW, they were opting for BMWs and
Mercedes
–Audi’s competition. So VW wants to give those possible Passat buyers a reason to stick with Volkswagen. We still don’t know where that leaves Audi, but we think out in the cold might be a reasonable guess.

Actually, VW really did answer this question about Audi by going upmarket in the first place–it will introduce a really swanky S-Class fighter next year called the Phaeton, by the way, as well as an SUV. See, the way VW figures it, whether it sells more VWs or more Audis, either way it’s selling cars. And it also figures that VW is the stronger brand in this country, with a younger, wealthier buyer base than a lot of its competition that would purchase a more expensive VW if one existed, but wouldn’t necessarily buy an Audi. So that’s why the W8 is on sale.

Then again, if all this marketing illogic and brand crisscrossing is leaving you a bit confused and you just want to know how this latest VW drives, handles and accelerates–and whether it’s worth $38K–well, good for you. And, uh, what’s a W8 engine, anyway? Fire up the links below for the answers.

W8 Engine

The W8 engine is a stunningly complex piece of machinery, and the outgrowth of a doubly complex invention, the W16. The latter is a 16-cylinder engine designed to power future
Bugatti
cars (VW owns the storied Bugatti brand) such as the EV 16.4 Veyron concept shown at the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Whereas the Bugatti, if it ever gets built, will have 1,001 horsepower(!), somehow the Passat W8 with an engine half the size doesn’t get 500.5 hp, but rather a mere 270 horses. Nonetheless, the W8 engine is still half the W16.

The idea behind both drive systems was to find a way to create a very flat engine that would fit more displacement into less space. In the case of the W8 engine, the W is formed via two V-4s set side by side, with each V-4′s cylinders set apart at a super steep 15 degrees, and the opposition of the two banks of V-4s set at a very flat 72 degrees. If this sounds very complex, most V-8s are set at a taller 45 degrees, and all the cylinders go in a row, two banks of four cylinders, so the engine bay has to be both deeper, to accommodate the taller engine, and longer, to fit the cylinders in a longer line.

Then again, if this engine sounds more complex, that’s because it is. To balance the tendency of two V-4s bouncing in opposition to each other, VW added a pair of balancing shafts. The car also gets four adjustable camshafts to allow both intake and exhaust variable valve timing.

In practical terms, we’re not at all sure if this motor will be any less reliable than what came before it, but we can tell you that it’s no museum piece–it makes beautiful noises and it transforms the Passat from merely capable to downright threatening–especially if you happen to be trying to keep up in your S430 Benz that we smoked during our test drive in California.

And the aforementioned noises come on early, right when you plant your foot on the gas and get to the torque peak (at a mere 2,750 rpm). This doesn’t sound like a conventional V-8, all low-down growl, but much more like the sophisticated whir of an exotic Italian motor, or of the very clean-sounding V-12s made by BMW and Mercedes. In other words, it sounds like you spent Tag Heuer money and got a Rolex.

As for performance, there’s zero disappointment.

Although the Passat W8 weighs 300 pounds more than the previous bruiser of the Passat lineup, the $32,125 GLX 2.8 with 4Motion, it outscoots it to 60 mph by two seconds. That puts this car in league with much more expensive German models, such as the smaller BMW 330i, but also with pricier models like the Lexus GS430 and with what we might call less flashy brands that VW buyers may be considering, such as
Saab
and
Volvo
. The motor alone launches VW into a whole new category.

We’re not crazy about the fact that this motor is driven through a five-speed automatic (see the handling section for more on that), but we can’t complain about the ratios: You have to be going 80 mph to get to 3,000 rpm in final drive, meaning that steady highway cruising is quiet, with little engine noise piercing through the cabin of a car we’ve already noted for being well composed.

Handling

Volkswagen made almost no changes to the front-suspension setup of the W8, but the rear suspension was tweaked. The stock Passat gets an independent torsion beam axle with trailing arms, but to handle the extra weight and higher performance aspirations of the W8, the new car has a double-wishbone rear suspension that provides better high-speed stability and more stable cornering.

Bear in mind, Volkswagen is marketing the Passat as a sporty family sedan, and says Audi is a sporty car you can use to carry your family. If you don’t know the difference, you will when you drive the Passat above 80 mph on an undulating road. The Passat W8 gets floaty, undulating up and down in the wrong rhythm against the pavement, making it seem like a very smart idea to slow down. In an A6 you won’t experience this disturbing sensation.

Things in the W8 are decidedly better at slower speeds. Around hairpins, up and down winding mountain sweepers, shuttling through long, wide, banked canyon roads you’ll find in coastal California–here the W8 rides like it should. Not like a
Porsche
, but like a very confident luxury sedan with sporty capabilities. It can be pushed quite hard, its 55-series all-season tires only howling when you get nasty and toss the W8 around too hard. Steering is the highlight. It’s nicely weighted, and a little soft but not anesthetized like you might find in certain Japanese luxo cruisers.

By the way, there is also a W8 wagon, and this is really the secret weapon W8 since fewer than 1,000 will be sold a year–and also since it outcorners the sedan. That’s due to its heavier aft end that stays planted a bit more than the rear of the sedan. What makes the secret even sweeter is that it also means you can carry 26 cubic feet of more stuff while simultaneously posing as a responsible parent (who might just go out and burn rubber on the run to get more diapers).

Either way, in sedan or wagon, you can use the Tiptronic mode of the transmission to downshift or upshift manually, although we found that, annoyingly, it wouldn’t allow downshifts to second gear even when the engine was turning at well below redline. This meant intentionally driving a bit slower to keep the car from shifting into third before the next turn, knowing that you’d want engine braking to make it through that hairpin.

This underscores why the W8 needs a manual, which will be available as a no-cost option–and it will be a six-speed, no less–in the fall. Also, the car will be that much better at twisty roads when it gets optional 17-inch wheels and fatter tires, with a tauter suspension, all of which is coming as a Sport Package in September.

Oh, sorry. That’s right. This isn’t an Audi. It doesn’t need any of that to be a Volkswagen. Well, the truth is, to compete with BMW and Mercedes it sure won’t hurt to have even better handling and a manual transmission.

And it’s also starting with leather, walnut wood trim, an eight-speaker, 200-watt
Monsoon
sound system that not only sounds great but actually features retro controls for fader, balance, bass and treble (about time someone remembered that we like our audio controls to show), side mirrors that tilt down so you can see the curb to parallel park, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, heated windshield-wiper nozzles (wipers are also rain-sensitive), an automatic climate control, a sunroof and heated front seats. The only thing missing–if you in fact want the option–is a navigation system. Otherwise, this baby is loaded, with front, side and side-curtain airbags all standard, by the way.

Worth $38K?

So is it worth $38K? Most definitely. Or maybe not.

See, it sort of matters where you’re coming from. If Euro is high on your list, there’s nothing else out there that sends all the right signals as much as this retuned, repropelled and repurposed Passat. It goes like stink, it rides dreamily, but for the most part it’s also tossable. And heck, at under $40,000, we can think of only one other European car that fits that description with no warts (like front-wheel drive): An Audi A6. Then again, the Audi is slower even if it’s more stable at speed. So wait six months and get the sport package with your W8–or just get the more glued-to-the-road wagon.

If Euro isn’t tops and the overall package is more key (aka you want power, handling, distinctive looks and who makes the beast is less imperative), you should compare this car to the less pricey but just as fleet Infiniti G35.

And in any case, if eight cylinders aren’t an absolute must, you’d be crazy not to test-drive a C320 Mercedes, which can be had in a wagon as well and is very plush. Not quite as quick, of course, but we’re talking about $38,000 here, so why part with it for power alone? The point is to get a car that’s flat-out right for you, not just gutsy. We like this W8 a lot, we really do, and we doubt the VW badge will hold it back. But this is the fat part of the luxury sedan market, with so many marques putting out their best product. Take a ride in the W8, but comparison shop for sure.